Thursday, August 11, 2016

Bayern Munich All-Time team

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.Bayern Munich is the most successful, German clubs. They won more European Cups and Bundesliga than any other German teams. However, they were not a big club until the 1960's when Bundesliga became a professional league. Their successes began around the time Franz Beckenbauer joined them in 1965. They won three, straight European Cup from 1974 to 1976. After twenty-five years of successes in the domestic competitions and near misses at the European Cup, they won the European Cup (Champions' league) again in 2001 and in 2013. They won the title 5 times, making them one of the most successful clubs in Europe.

Team GK: Sepp Maier (Germany)"The
cat from Anzing" won the European Championship in 1972 and the WC at
home in 1974. He also won three straight European Cups for Bayern
Munich. He was one of the best keepers in the 1970's.

GK: Oliver Kahn(Germany)His
heroic performance helped Germany to finish 2nd at Korea/Japan 2002.
He was the Gold Ball winner in that WC. He played for Bayern Munich
between 1994 and 2008. He won the Champions' league in 2001. He was
the hero in a penalty shootout at the Final.

H established Germany's number 1 before the WC Finals in 2010. He helped Germany winning their 4th WC in 2014. He started with Schalke 04, but moved to rival Bayern Munich in 2010. He is the second most expensive keeper of all-time.

RB/LB/DM: Philipp Lahm(Germany)The
captain of the 2014 WC winning team. He also won the treble in 2013
when Bayern Munich won the Champions' League, the German Cup and the
Bundesliga. He earned 113 caps for germany at the end of the WC Finals
in 2014 where he retired from the national team.

Lahm

RB: Willy Sagnol(France)Sagnol
was better known for his stint with Bayern Munich, winning the
Champions' League in 2001. He played for the national team from 2000 to
2008. He became the regular stater after Lilian Thuram moved to
centre-back.CB: Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck(Germany)He
was the center-back for both West Germany and Bayern Munich during the
1970's. He won the European Championship in 1972 and the WC in 1974.
For Bayern Munich, he won the European Cup 3 times.
DM/CB: Ludwig Goldbrunner(Germany)He
went to the WC in 1938. He spent his entire career with Bayern Munich,
winning the German title in 1932. He was considered to be one of
Bayern's greatest players.

SW/CM: Franz Beckenbauer(Germany)He
was one of the best ever player in history. Known as Der Kaiser, he
was credited with revolutionizing the sweeper position. Twice
selected European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103
times for West Germany and played in three FIFA World Cups, winning the
WC in 1974 and the European Championship in 1972.He won three straight European Cup with Bayern Munich in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

He
played his entire career with with FC Bayern Munich. He won seven
Bundesliga titles. He was voted as one of greatest players in Bayern
Munich's history. He was the starting sweeper for West Germany at Italia 1990.

CB: Lucio (Brazil)The
star of the 2002 WC Team. He earned 105 caps for Brazil. He reached
the Champions' League final with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002. In
2004, he moved to Bayern Munich, where he won one German Cup and three
Bundesliga titles. He also helped Inter Milan win the 2010 Champions
League against his former club Bayern Munich.

LB/CM: Paul Breitner(Germany)He
was the first player to score a goal at two different WC Final match.
He won the European Championship in 1972 and then, a the World Cup in
1974. He spent most of his career with Bayern Muinch and went to play
for Real Madrid in Spain.

Paul Breitner

LB: Bixente Lizarazu (France)Bixente Lizarazu was the
leftback for the all-conquering French team of 1998 and 2000. He was
also a star at Bayern Munich for 9 seasons. He won the Champions' League
in 2001. He is a Basque and played for Atletico Bilbao.

DM: Mark van Bommel (Holland)In
Holland, his career was associated PSV, where he had two separated
stints. However, his most famous part of his career was spent with
Bayern Munich. He was their first ever non-German captain. He played 79
times for Holland and was a main player as Holland reached the Final of
South Africa 2010.

DM: Franz Roth (Germany)Nicknamed the Bull. He was known for scoring important goals for Bayern Munich. He spent nearly his entire career with the club. He was the part of the team that won three straight European Cup.

CM: Bastian Schweinsteiger(Germany)He
was an important player for both club and country. He went to three
European Championships and as many World Cups, including their victory
at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Schweinsteiger is the youth product of Bayern Munich. He won the 2013 Champions' league title with Bayern Munich.

Schweinsteiger

CM: Michael Ballack (Germany)Born in East Germany, Ballack was the best German player of his generation. first made his name with Bayer Leverkusen, helping them to the Final of the Champions' League in 2002. On the same summer, he helped Germany reaching the Final of Japan/Korea 2002. He moved to Bayern Munich after the WC Finals. he also played for Chelsea before his retirement.

CM: Stefan Effenberg (Germany)Effenberg started his career with Borussia Moncehngladbach before moving to Bayern Munich in 1990 and then, in Fiorentina in 1992. His mostsuccessful club career came during his second stint with Bayern Munich. He helped the club to reach the Final of the Champions' League twice, winning in 2001. For Germany, he was only capped 35 times. His career was cut short after the "giving a finger" incident during the World Cup Finals in 1994.

Effenberg

CM: Lothar Matthaus(Germany)Captaining
the West German team in winning the WC in 1990. He was the European
Player of the Year and the first ever World Player of the year in 1990. He
played in five FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998), a record
for an outfield player, and holds the record for the most
World Cup matches played by a single player (25 games). He also won the
Euro 1980 in Italy, and played in the 1984, 1988, and 2000 European
Championships.

RW/LW/FW: Arjen Robben (Holland)He
was an important player for Bayern Munich's dominance in Europe as they
reached three Champions' League Finals in 4 years, winning one. For
the national team, he helped Holland to reach the WC Final in 2010 and
then the semi-final in 2014. He also played with Real Madrid.

Robben

RW/LW: Franck Ribery (France)He
is one of the best French players of his generation. He won the
Champions' League in 2013 with Bayern Munich. He played in two World Cup
Finals and helping France to a 2nd place in 2006.

AM: Mehmet Scholl(Germany) Scholl was born in Germany of Turkish hertiage. He started with Karlsruher, but spent almost hs entire career with Bayern Munich. he won the Bundesliga title 8 times and the Champions' league n 2001. Injuries has limited his career with the national team. He never played in any of the WC Finals.

FW: Uli Hoeness (Germany)Hoeness was a part of the generation that won the 1974 World Cup, the 1972 European Championship and three straight European cup with Bayern Munich. He was remembered as the star player at the 1974 European Cup Final against Atletico Madrid, scoring a double in that game. After retirement, he worked for Bayern Munich.

FW: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge(Germany)He
was one of the best players in the world during the 1980's. He was the
European Player of the Year in 1980 and 1981. He won the European
Championship in 1980 and was
part of the squad that finished runner-up at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in
Spain and at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was a young star in
Argentina 1978. He spent the best parts of his club career with Bayern
Munich and Inter Milan.

Rummenigge

ST: Giovane Élber (Brazil)At his prime, he was one of the greatest strikers playing in Europe. He formed the famous magic triangle with Krassimir Balakov and Fredi Bobic at VfB Stuttgart. With bayern Munich, he was the star player as the club won 4 league titles and the Champions' League in 2001. However, he only played 15 times for Brazil, largely due to stiff competition.

ST: Gerd Muller (Germany)"Der
Bomber" was widely considered to be the best striker in history. He
scored 68 goals in 62 matches for Germany. He scored 365 goals in 427
Bundesliga appearance, mostly with Bayern Muinch. He won the WC in 1974 and the European Championship in 1972.He won three straight European Cup with Bayern Munich in 1974, 1975 and 1976. He was the European Player of the Year in 1970.

Squad Explanation-- Neuer has won the Champions' League. I took him over Pfaff. -- Lucio was a big surprise. -- Franz Roth was the last player selected. he is the 4th all-time leading scorer. I took him over Claudio Pizarro, Roy Makaay, Roland Wohlfarth, Thomas Muller and Hasan Salihamidzic. I chose him because he scored important goals for the club.-- Thomas Muller's stats are not far behind Roland Wohlfarth. -- Robert Lewandowski's stats are also good, but I will wait and see how his career with the club would end. He has not played too many seasons with Bayern Munich.

Formation-- I do not have a preference between Kahn and Maier.-- I want to pair Beckenbauer with a stopper.-- I could move Breitner to the midfield and start Lizarazu as the leftback. -- I prefer Lahm as the rightback because the rightback position is thinner. I would rather start Breitner or Lizarazu on the left side than Sagnol on the right.